Ekphrastic Poetry – Chapter 1 – Comets

I want to try something new. Something that will strengthen my skills as a writer while also breaking the mundane task of revising the early drafts of my book. I’m going to write poetry to orchestrated music that I find on Youtube—the songs that I like, of course. These songs will be accompanied by beautiful images. And I will write a poem that fits the song’s mood and image’s scene. Honestly, there’s probably an official term for this idea of mine, but for now, I’m going to name it Theatrical Poetry. (EDIT: I’ve come to learn the term is “ekphrastic poetry“)

Remember, play the song and study the image while reading the poem. This should be a fully immersive journey. For best results, start reading anywhere between 0:58 and 1:03, depending on how fast you read. Without further ado, here you go:

“Comets”, Written by David F. Farris

Whiskers, do you see it?
The setting sun,
The shooting star?
A universe unperturbed by the thought of our existence,
Its scale too immense for our thoughts to comprehend.

The sky is the ultimate touchstone of a person’s wisdom,
For their mind to be as vast as its limitless scope,
Their ideas as abundant as the stars held within …
Their dream as bright as the comet surging by—
Elusive and brisk, beckoning to be chased.

So I stretch for this sky,
A sea of infinite wisdom and ambition.
And you know what, Whiskers?
If not tonight, if not tomorrow …